Amanda

We are visiting Venice in May, and wondered if hotels overlooking the major canals are noisy from boat engines, people ainging etc? Our hotel may not look over a canal and I wondered if we would feel we had missed something by not looking out over water? My husband is a light sleeper. Help!

KayF

Amanda,<BR>we stayed at the Hotel Galleria in Venice which is right on the Grand Canal. Our window opened on to it, and it was fabulous! I was a bit worried about the noise too but it wasn't noisy at all. It was great to be able to lie in bed and watch the water traffic or have breakfast watching the gondolas and vaporettos float by. The hotel is next door to a bar and I think if your room looked out that side (ours was front on to the canal) it could be noisy with the window open. There is heaps of info on this site about the hotel if you are interested, they only have 10 rooms though and get booked out quickly.<BR>Kay

RufusTFirefly

We stayed on the Grand Canal our first trip to Venice--we had two windows, one looking across the canal, and one looking up the canal. Traffic was minimal at night--our sleep was not disturbed. If you are concerned, get a hotel on a smaller canal--they can be just as picturesque without much noise any time of the day.<BR><BR>I'm an early riser, and I enjoyed watching the service boat/barge traffic coming bustling about early in the morning--laundry boats, trash boats, produce boats, Becks beer boats, every kind of boat you can think of. Fascinating to watch how everything must be done and transported by hand.

isabel

I also stayed on the Grand Canal and was not at all bothered by noise. I've found the most trouble from noise is usually due to a bar or cafe near your window and most of the time this is not something you can find out ahead of time. Even &quot;quiet&quot; neighborhoods (in Venice or anywhere else) will have some bars and restaurants and if you happen to be right near one there will be noise. Stay on the grand canal. It's wonderful.